Dragon Warriors raise world gold haul to four

MANILA, Philippines - The Cobra-Philippine Dragon Boat Federation team hiked its gold medal collection to four as it dominated the Premier Mixed 500 meter (small boat) event yesterday in the 10th International Dragon Boat Federation World Championships in Tampa Bay, Florida.

The Phl “Water Dragons” bested their rivals in all three rounds of the race held in the penultimate day of the world meet, according to results posted on the IDBF website.

In Round 1, the Filipinos finished the race in 2:28.789, ahead of Hungary (2:30.474) and Trinidad and Tobago (2:32.140).

The fancied paddlers duplicated their No. 1 finish in the second round, clocking 2:33.404 against Hungary’s 2:34.832 and Trinidad and Tobago’s 2:36.472.

There was no denying the Water Dragons’ dominance as they logged a best time of 2:36.119 in the Final Round to hold off the challenge of Trinidad and Tobago (2:38.805) and Hungary (2:39.635).

The underfunded Filipinos earlier conquered the Premier 1,000-meter (small boat) competition in record fashion, the 200-meter men’s race, and Premier 200-meter mixed event.